Who We Are
by lucystilinski
Summary: Sequel to The Darkness Among Us - The pack is left struggling to find stability after losing one of their own, each orienting towards being teenagers, while Eva focuses more & more on harnessing her powers & becoming stronger. However, the peace that befell Beacon Hills is only temporary before the pack finds themselves fighting for their own and other's lives as well.
1. In Transition

**A/N:**

 **I. Am. So. Excited.**

 **I can't believe I'm actually posting this omg! I will rave on and on about how I'm grateful if anyone who's been reading since the beginning is still around to be honest, because you are amazing. But heads up, I've been writing Who We Are for a year and I'm just beginning to write the final chapters, so it may take a while to update because so much proofreading will be happening as I want to improve a lot of what I've written before. BUT ANYWAYS, IT'S HERE.**

* * *

 _Two Days After Allison Argent's funeral._

Eva never thought she'd step foot willingly into Eichen House again, but she had to. She held the envelope that held every paper and document that proved Daniel was her twin brother. Adoption papers. Birth Certificate. It was a closed adoption, so neither his adoptive parents nor the foster system were made aware of who the biological parents were.

But Deaton knew.

It turned out that Deaton was the one who kept track of Daniel's moves from house to house – the one who visited him often when he was admitted into Eichen House. It turned out Daniel knew a lot more about himself than Eva had thought. He didn't know the nature of his family though, what he was, what she was, and Eva was almost sure she'd have to tell him.

Eva let her father walk into the main office as her gaze bounced off the walls almost frantically – there was still something off about this place. The goosebumps still rose on her skin whenever Eva inhaled, and it made her think that she might not have unraveled the mystery of this place just yet. But she didn't think about it. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to seem more casual as she looked over her atmosphere, before she tilted her head when her eyes met a pair of familiar green ones. Eva breathed in slowly, despite her lungs' refusal to expand, when the girl smiled at her, waving with hesitant, skinny digits in her direction.

Eva may have been in Eichen House for only a day, but she'd know that girl anywhere. The odd look about her, the slight insanity in her eyes, and of course her sullen face that held a paradox of sadness and innocence.

"She's a weird girl, Meredith."

Eva whirled around quickly, her eyes flickering upwards to find Daniel's hazel eyes staring intently down at her. She tried to push the lump that rose to her throat down as she struggled to form words, but instead quickly averted her eyes to the floorboards beneath her feet, "Um, yeah." She breathed out, pulling her brows into a frown.

"So," He attempted to break the ice, though the hesitance never showed in his voice, "Twin sister, huh?"

"Yeah…" Eva gushed out in a tired exhale as she peered up at him through a canopy of thick lashes, "Small world?"

"Very." He nodded once, "You're okay, right?" He asked, and Eva pulled her brows into a frown, "I'm okay?"

"Well, yeah, the reason they gave me up because you almost died. You're okay now, right? I get to not feel guilty about hating you for a while?" He explained, and quirked a brow. Eva's lips fell slack as she stared up at him, mostly astounded at his brashness. She eventually let her shoulders slump – what did she expect? A warm hug? "I'm okay." She rolled her shoulders into a shrug, pressing her lips into a measly smile.

"Don't look at me like that, then." He pointed out, "You don't know anything about me, and I obviously don't know anything about you except that you had taken part of some weird shit that happened in this place, and you owe me at least an explanation to that."

"You don't want to hear it." Eva shook her head almost too quickly, turning her gaze away - focusing on the stale ceiling, "Trust me."

"Given that I got tazered once, and punched another time because of you, I think the trust is still a work in progress." He muttered under his breath, and Eva winced at the memories. She ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth before she nodded slowly, "I guess I owe it to you. But can you at least give me…us the chance to be the family that you need?"

Daniel huffed - Eva wasn't sure whether that was a sound of consent or veto because when she tried to study his face to gauge off an answer, his eyes were completely elsewhere, staring at where James Davis stood with the manila file in his hands. The man stopped abruptly, as if his eyes were witnessing an odd incident. They flickered between her and Daniel, and for the first time Eva couldn't read the emotion in her father's eyes. She knew he'd come here already and talked to Daniel, took his 'consent' to take him back in. So it wasn't the first time her father had seen Daniel – but she could only imagine how it felt like to him to see both his children standing beside each other, in the same room, after eighteen years, and after losing his wife.

"Our mother's…" Daniel's tone was already solemn, he didn't even bother look at her but she sensed the question in his tone. Eva ground her molars together before she hummed once, & Daniel gave a curt nod as he trapped the inside of his cheek between his teeth and started making his way towards the exit. Eva exchanged a frown with her father before she turned to follow after Daniel quickly.

* * *

"It's just…" Eva huffed as she bounced on the tips of her toes, her hands curled into fists inside the gloves as she aimed her punches at the boxing bag, "I don't want him to know—I don't want him to become a part of this world."

"You don't really have a choice." Derek muttered as he held the boxing bag steady for her, "Keep your knees bent, and your feet planted on the ground. Don't give your opponent a chance to tip off your balance. You're strongest when you're on your feet."

Eva jerked her head in a rough nod as her eyes flickered down to her feet - however, she exhaled loudly, looking up at Derek, letting her arms fall at her sides, "I don't want to tell him."

Derek stared at Eva before he let out a loud sigh through his nose, "He was there when Cole had you cornered in the Eichen House basement, Eva. He's heard enough to tempt him to look for answers on his own. Don't you think it's safer if you told him the whole thing?"

Eva's eyes flickered to the ground, "I don't want to tell him about mom." She finally admitted and looked up at Derek again. Just the thought made her skin crawl. Derek lifted a brow as he watched her reaction before he stepped aside to let her have her way at the bag. Eva shook out her arms again before she channeled all her power into punching the hell out of that bag. Derek crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her before he finally stepped in to pull her back from the boxing bag.

"Did you try talking to Stiles about this?" He asked, and Eva looked up at Derek as she shook off the gloves, still somewhat seething "He's been staying at Scott's, since Isaac left with Argent." Eva labored to speak and pulled herself out of Derek's grasp, her eyes flickering to the ground.

Derek frowned before he stepped back, "Why did you ask me to teach you how to fight?"

Eva shook her head as if to show Derek how absurd his question was, "I told you. I want to have some muscle in me in case I can't use my powers."

"That's not it." Derek muttered, and Eva narrowed her eyes - could he really see right through her? "I heard your heart. You're lying. You lied the first time and I let it slide. No more lying or else no more of this."

Eva stared at Derek, holding his gaze in a contest until she realized he was being serious. With a defeated sigh she shook her head, "I want to be strong enough to use the power I have. I don't want to feel weak every time I do something. I want to be as physically strong as I am….druidly.." Eva whispered as she turned back to Derek.

Derek tilted his head and Eva exhaled loudly, reverting to the metaphor Deaton had used to explain this to her, "I'm like a balloon. A small one. And someone keeps blowing it with air, and with too much pressure it's going to pop. Unless the balloon starts to stretch as well." Eva explained, "I need to start coping with what I am and stop going against it."

Derek nodded slowly before he started, "Don't you have PSAT's next month?"

Eva was taken aback at the question but she nodded slowly, "Yeah, why?"

"Don't you think you should be focusing on that?" Derek offered. Eva's lips parted in search for answers, but instead she just blurted out in a frantic argument to convince Derek of her point of view, "I can't shake off the feeling that something bad is going to happen. And if that's true then we need to be ready. I need to be ready. To protect everyone. To protect myself."

"So no one has to protect you, like Allison did." Derek finally deduced, and Eva's eyes snapped up to meet his gaze. Derek quirked a brow, daring her to say anything otherwise. She took a deep breath and looked down, no words coming to her mind that could elaborate how she felt right now. This is usually where Stiles came in, reading her like the open book she usually was to him, but Stiles wasn't here.

Derek eventually sighed, "No more training."

Eva's gaze snapped up to his face in complaint as she shifted her weight to stomp her foot once, "What?! Why?"

"Because you need to be a teenager." Derek insisted. Eva stared at him, trying to stare him down – but who was she kidding really. With a huff she turned around and slumped on his couch, "You're getting softer, Hale." She muttered as she rummaged through her bag, and she heard Derek huff a small laugh. The muscles behind Eva's eyes ached from how hard she'd rolled them - Finally her fidgetting hands had grasped her phone. _One text message from Stiles 3. Two missed calls from Dad._

Eva decided she'd call her father once she was in her car.d.

 _How's my Buffy doing today?_ Eva couldn't help the small laugh that left her lips. She quickly texted back, _Done for the day. Giles decided I needed to stop slaying. Something about being a teenager._

 _He's right, you know. We need to focus more on us._ Eva pursed her lips, unable to find it within herself to accommodate herself with the widely spread out opinion of what they should be doing. She looked up at Derek as he untangled the boxing bag off the chain, truly meaning his 'no training' command. "Where the hell is Peter anyways?" Eva asked, and Derek glanced over his shoulder at her before he shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know where he is."

"Does he know Malia is his daughter?" Eva wondered out loud, knowing well that everyone else knew the new piece of information now – everyone except for Peter.

"I don't know." Derek muttered as he turned back to Eva, his eyes holding an emotion Eva was not familiar now, "How is Malia anyways?"

"I haven't really had the chance to talk to her. I check in with her father on the phone whenever I can and he says she's fine. She's supposed to go take a tour in the school next week." Eva mumbled, shaking her head slowly. "I don't know if she'll even take our help. I mean, sure we turned her back, but she didn't seem too happy about it."

"As your boyfriend mentioned, profusely, us Hales tend to take on a more violent side at the beginning," Derek started, before he pressed his lips into a small smile, "She'll come around."

"You didn't even officially meet her and you said 'us Hales.'" Eva whispered, blinking as she stared at the man almost in awe. Derek remained silent for a moment, contemplating his next words. "I've lost enough of my family to death, distance, and lunacy. Honestly, at this point, I'd welcome anyone with open arms." Eva smiled a bit as she got up and put on her jacket; part of her could understand, what with the Daniel situation. "She's lucky to have you as a cousin. Even if she doesn't know it yet."

Derek nodded once before he took a deep, "Now go away. Be a teenager." He ordered, waving his hand in her direction, and Eva poked her tongue out at him as she left. It was a quiet journey out of the building and to her car, all the while the hairs on the back of Eva's neck had risen on end – for some reason. She glanced back at the building as she climbed into her car and frowned. It has to be the amount of pleasant memories the place hoarded for her, Eva thought bitterly as she pushed the key into the ignition.

It was the moment of silence between the car's roaring to life and her finally rearing out of the parking lot that finally brought back the memory of Allison, again. Lately Eva used every distraction, holding onto each one with tooth and nail until she couldn't anymore. She felt her vision well up as she drove but she quickly blinked away her tears. Her hand reached out to turn on the radio. Any distraction would be better than being caught in this web of aftermaths Eva wasn't ready to deal with just yet.

She drove quietly, having completely forgotten about calling back her dad until she remembered. Eva reached out for the phone from the passenger seat and speed dialed her father's cell. Eva held the wheel with one hand as she held the phone to her ear, listening with divided attention to the dial tone. She frowned as she held the phone down to look down at it when the call went to voicemail, and decided to dial the apartment's number instead.

"Hello?" Daniel answered, and Eva lifted a brow in surprise.

"Daniel?" She questioned – she could have been mistaken after all.

"Twin sister." He acknowledged. "Your dad's worried about you. Where have you been?"

Eva chewed on the inside of her cheek before she answered quietly, "I'm driving home now. Why is he not answering his phone?" She asked first.

"He fell asleep." Daniel mumbled curtly, "I decided I should stay up…since you're out so late. Are you always out so late?"

Eva scowled as her eyes flickered down to the LED numbers on her dash, "I'm not that la-" Eva's eyes flickered up to the road again, before they widened when she saw a man's figure in the middle of the road, "Oh my god!" She quickly reacted, dropping her phone somewhere as her hands gripped the wheel, turning sharply around the suicidal person who decided to stand in the middle of the road.

That wasn't the end of it though.

She heard a loud explosion of rubber and realized one of her tires went out. Eva gripped the wheel with all her strength to hold the direction in place as she quickly eased her foot off the gas and down slowly on the breaks, having enough experience from books and shows to know that slamming her foot down on the breaks would only cause the car to turn over.

Once the car had stopped, she slumped back into the seat, her fingers combing through her hair as she grasped for each labored breath she took. Eva's eyes flickered to the side view mirror, but there was nothing on the road. She slowly willed herself to somehow solidify her joints and put her bones to use again. Eva got out of the car slowly and glanced back at the shredded tire, barely any remnants on the actual wheel.

Eva breathed out a relieved sigh, this could have been so much worse. Her eyes flickered across the dark road - the silence was eerie, except for the radio that was humming quietly, the music seeping through the open door to poison the silence and whither it away. She stepped closer to what remained of the wheel and knelt down in front of it – before she narrowed her eyes. "What the hell…" She whispered as she traced the pads of her fingers over the…the claw marks on the wheel.

She stood up quickly, whirling around as her wide eyes took in the sinister night that now bore its true colors. Eva almost headed for the open door to search for her phone and call someone to her aid, but she felt her whole body slam back against the car instead, a steel grip with sharp edges pressing into her skin – claws – around her neck. Eva flickered her eyes open to register the pair of frozen sapphires staring down at her in wrath.

"Peter." She acknowledged him hesitantly, emotions tearing at her from the inside. "What the hell do you want?" Eva demanded through her teeth, her voice almost below a whisper, not daring to move under the hold of his claws that could rip her throat out in any minute.

"I want the full information, little druid." Peter muttered as he narrowed his eyes, "I was kind enough to give you and your friends the time you needed to get rid of that little…ectoplasmic infection of yours, and kind enough to give you time to grieve." He rambled on to himself before his eyes found hers again and his grip on her neck tightened, "But now you need to tell me who exactly is my child." Peter whispered.

"Is that what you've been gone doing?" She taunted, narrowing her eyes, even though Eva was in no position to banter with words. "Searching for her."

"Ah," He lifted both brows in amusement, "It's a girl."

Eva closed her eyes and bit her tongue, before she locked her jaw and opened her eyes slowly. "Come on now. I'm not good at coaxing people." He growled as Eva felt the tips of claws break through her skin. "I'm not going to kill you, if that's what's keeping you from talking." Peter explained, "But the amount of fragile people that you care about is increasing. It's really giving me a versatile plate and all I have to do is pick."

Eva's eyes flickered up to his as he spoke, and she knew Peter wasn't bluffing. He'd go as far as hurting someone to get a name, "I could start with your banshee friend." Peter whispered, "After all, the hunter's gone now, and Lydia has no one to play bodyguard with her anymore now, does she?"

Eva could have sworn her blood was boiling in her veins before she finally caved, not wanting to hear it. "Malia." She let out a strangled cough, finally leaning her weight against the car when Peter let go of her. She opened her eyes to look up at him, "Malia's your daughter." Eva muttered, "But she doesn't know, and you don't get to tell her." Eva countered quickly, "I will. She trusts me, for some reason. I'll tell her." Eva muttered as she met Peter's gaze. She wasn't entirely lying – it truly was the plan to eventually tell Malia, she just didn't plan on doing it so soon.

For a fraction of a second, Eva could have sworn she'd seen the same vulnerability on Peter's face she saw, well Julia saw, when she was trying sacrificing Derek. But that didn't faze her. Eva stood up straight slowly just as Peter regained his sickeningly confident expression, "Well then." He muttered as he retracted his claws, "That was a nice talk we had here."

Peter turned to leave, but Eva quickly called out, "Peter," She met his eyes before she took a deep breath, "You owe me." She whispered, and Peter's lips tugged into a victorious smile, "Now you're learning." He finished off as he turned and disappeared into the night.

Eva blinked slowly before she staggered towards the open driver's seat and slumped onto the seat, her feet dangling out of the car. She almost jumped when her phone began ringing, glancing over her shoulder to glimpse the flashing screen underneath the passenger seat. She leaned over to pick it up and frowned when she saw her father's number on the screen. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat before she picked up, "Hello?" – She still sounded like she'd been choked.

"Thank god you're alive. Do you know how awkward it would have been to tell your father you died because you were talking with me on the phone while driving?" Daniel's voice erupted through the phone in angry whispers, and Eva sighed heavily before she breathed out a weak laugh. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing." Eva muttered as she closed her eyes and lifted her feet to rest them against the edge of the car's entrance. She ran her fingers through her hair once, peering through tired eyes at the atmosphere around her.

"What happened anyways?" He asked, and she could hear shuffling in the background.

"The tire blew out. I must have forgotten to change it." Eva explained quietly. "Then who were you talking to?" Eva sat up all too suddenly, straining her back, "Who's Peter?"

"You heard that?" Eva frowned, "I heard half of it until the line went out in the middle." Daniel answered, "You know what, just tell me where you are and I'll pick you up."

Eva was surprised at Daniel's offer "You're sure? I can just call Stiles." She mumbled, then asked uncertainly, " _Can_ you drive?"

"I told you." He muttered into the phone, "You don't know anything about me. And don't mistake this for caring, but part of me doesn't find it at all funny for your father find a child and lose another one, so. I might have been a foster kid, but I have a heart." Daniel explained into the phone, and Eva felt herself smile a bit, "I didn't ask for all of that explanation, you know." She pointed out teasingly.

"Don't push it, twin." He breathed out, "Now tell me how the hell to work this GPS so I can find you."

Eva guided him through and eventually hung up because she didn't want him to talk while driving as well, and she tucked herself into the car as she waited for her brother to pick her up – the thought still much of an anomaly to her.


	2. The F Word

**A/N:**

 **Chapter two is here! I hope everyone's looking forwards to see how I've bent season four at this point - but you should be warned, season four was not my favorite at all and it was difficult for me to write. However, any criticism I will accept whole-heartedly as I want to take my writing to the next level, hopefully. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _Five days after Allison Argent's funeral._

Anxious could barely describe how Eva felt right now as she stared at her twin brother's face, trying to gauge his expression. She'd eventually caved – she'd eventually told him everything. She told him everything from the moment she'd arrived to this town till the moment they found him. She didn't dare tell him about Scott because after all, it wasn't her story to tell.

"So our aunt….possessed you…to kill our mom…?" He tested out slowly, every word driving a pang of guilt through her chest as she cursed herself silently over and over again. She shouldn't have told him. But she had no choice. He wouldn't stop asking, and Eva couldn't be the reason that he got in danger. It took her two days to make this decision, along with other decisions that she's made. One of which being taking Derek's advice, and living like a teenager. But to do that, she'd needed to start fresh, open up a clean page – and this was the first step.

"Yeah…" No words could offer him any solace, so she pressed her lips into a thin line– he didn't seem to be attempting to form anymore words either, so Eva decided her safest bet would be to slowly retreat to her room and pretend this conversation never happened until he decided that he wanted to talk about this.

"No wonder you came to Eichen House." Daniel finally breathed out as he finally lifted his gaze from the plastic-covered floor, and Eva turned around slowly to meet his gaze. She pulled her brows into a frown, "I guess I am kind of crazy, huh." Eva heaved a weak, humorless chuckle before her eyes drifted to the ground.

"If it helps at all," Daniel started as he stood up slowly, "I don't think it's your fault. What happened to mom…to your friend…and I think you'll be fine too." Eva's eyes flickered up to his eyes face momentarily, the corners of her lips twitching into a weak smile, "Yeah, I've been told that on many occasions."

"It doesn't matter how many times you've been told if you don't believe it." Daniel shrugged easily, and Eva's heart sank in her chest. "I guess I don't believe it." Eva muttered as she lifted both brows, her eyes trailing along the barely furnished room to the ground.

"You know what, I have lots to ask, so why don't you just stick around and…help me paint the room?" Daniel offered, and Eva's face turned into fifty shades of shocked as he moved to grab one of the rollers – his sudden change in attitude throwing her off. She reached out for the roller and tilted her head once, "You don't have to be nice to me just because of what happened. You get to keep on hating me." Eva commented as she dipped the roller into the paint can and glanced sideways at her brother, who shrugged once as he worked on the wall in front of him. "Look, I won't hate you, but I will be an asshole sometimes, like a big brother usually is." Daniel mumbled.

"Hey," Eva pointed out, "Technically, I'm three months older than you are." She stole a glance sideways at him, and she could have sworn she'd seen a smile on his face, before it quickly disappeared.

"So am I like you?" Daniel asked, and Eva's hands lingered against the wall as she tilted her head. "I- I don't know. I guess you are." She muttered, quickly evening out the paint so that it doesn't lump. She shook her head slowly as she dipped the roller into the heavy mixture of grey, "I know I was capable of using my power when I learned who I am, what I am. When I _believed_ it." Eva quoted off her mother, momentarily lost in the memory, before she took a deep breath and shrugged once, "I can't exactly tell you how it works. For me the only times I've actually intentionally used my powers were with mom and when the adrenaline was pumping through my veins really."

"So what can you – _we_ do?" He asked as he moved to the adjacent wall. Eva heaved out a loud sigh before she tried to list all the things that she'd actually done, "I can manipulate people's – um – subconscious. I can manipulate elements…I can see into the past." Eva explained slowly, what she's experienced, what she's done, even when 75% of it all was something that happened barely out of intention. But Eva tried not to think of that now. She was supposed to be just a normal teenager, and the only reason she was even retaliating all of this was to inform Daniel of what he needed to know.

"You can manipulate elements?" Daniel mused out loud, and Eva hummed in accord, "I once made a glass of water shatter, and I lit a candle on fire." Eva explained, "And I think I actually messed with the power unit here once – you know, electricity is after all overly powered atoms." Eva started, before she quickly bit her tongue as she turned to her brother, "Do _you_ know?"

Daniel glanced over his shoulder at her before he let a chuckle leave his lips, "Don't worry, I got my G.E.D. I finished it when I was in Eichen House." Eva stared agape at her brother, who lifted both brows at her, "You know, the good patients were actually treated more like humans than lunatics." He pointed out, sounding almost offended as he turned away from her to pay the wall his divided attention.

"Sorry, sorry…" Eva breathed, closing her eyes as she turned to the wall again, "I just didn't expect you to have a G.E.D." Eva muttered, shrugging once. "You basically spent all high school in there and I didn't think they actually provided that option," She rambled on, "It's just – that place seems more like a prison than a hospital for the mentally ill."

"It mostly is." Daniel muttered, his tone heavier now. Eva could tell he didn't like talking about Eichen House, and she realized that she'd been the one to bring up the topic. She chewed at the inside of her cheek nervously, "You saw what Brunski did when I talked to you that first day." He reminded her, and Eva's face twisted in contempt as she recalled the memory. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's okay. I never liked that guy anyways. He always seems too jolly to be in a nuthouse." Daniel muttered, "Maybe he is after all, one of us. One of the crazies."

"You're not crazy, don't say that." Eva stopped to turn to her brother, "You were just mistreated. And misunderstood."

"Are you quoting lyrics from Pink's song? Because I _am_ perfect. Health wise. It's why they kept you." He spoke, his voice low, so low that Eva realized she was no longer welcomed to the conversation or the room anymore. She made sure she painted her part of the wall before she set the roller down, "Yeah…" Eva mumbled, her voice laced with guilt as she turned to him, "Look…I'm sorry I bothered you." She started quietly, "You can do whatever you want with that apology but I hope that you eventually understand where I'm coming from. Anyways," Eva let her eyes drift across the floor clad with plastic covering, "I'm gonna go now – do the thing…I'll see you tomorrow." She took a deep breath and nodded to herself, lingering by the door in hopes that maybe he'll accept the apology – but Eva knew it was too soon for that anyways. She'd already made big steps with him today – she didn't want to push it.

She headed towards her room, dragging her feet until she remembered what she was going to do. Lydia had thrown her a birthday party when Eva needed it the most – and now, despite the fact that it was a week past Lydia's birthday, they were all heading to Stiles' house to throw her a small party. And Eva made sure everyone knew it was a small party through every possible social media window that existed – because, according to Stiles, people show up once they heard the party notice for Lydia's birthday, unannounced.

Eva made sure she dressed casually, no need to make a big deal out of this – just a pair of ripped jeans and a blouse, topped by a varsity jacket. Very teenager-y of her. Eva took a deep breath before she stepped back and reached for the drawer to grab Lydia's gift as well as another box, a little surprise. She grabbed her phone and headed outside, where her father was hunched over the coffee table with his head in his hands. "Dad?" Eva asked as she lingered in the hallway, and walked into the living room, "What's wrong?"

Eva's eyes caught a glimpse of the envelope before her father could rip it off the table, "Is that a notice from Eichen House?" Eva asked, frowning as she stepped closer to the table, her eyes trying to decipher as much of what seemed to be a mess of bills before her father quickly gathered them away from her. She stared at her father with a troubled face, until he finally took a deep breath and looked up at her, "Aren't you going to be late for that party you're throwing?" He asked, and Eva blinked slowly before she took a deep breath and retreated, "Right, the party." She sighed.

James pushed himself off the table and started towards his daughter, "Have fun, okay?" He told her as he pressed his lips to his daughter's forehead. Eva's lips stretched into a small smile before she eventually exited the apartment. She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair, jogging her way down the stairs in favor of taking her cardio seriously now since she really wanted to get better.

When she got into the car, her phone buzzed, and Eva smiled as Stiles' name blinked on the screen. She put the phone to her ear as she reared the newly tired car out of the parking lot, "Hey, girlfriend." Eva smiled at his greeting, "Hey, boyfriend." She started as she peered over the wheel to keep a sharp eye on the road.

"I'm on my way now and I have the cake. Where are you?"

"I just got out of the parking lot." Eva answered as her eyes flickered nervously across the road; Peter had really done a number on her that last time. No, she was not going to think about any of that now, "Is Scott with you?"

"I'm about to pick him up." Stiles muttered, "Before you ask, he's…doing better. I mean he's actually talking now. I tried to make him watch Star Wars you know, for a change…" Stiles sighed, and Eva heaved a sigh. "Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"I don't know. That's why the birthday is in a house away from any lakes." Stiles grumbled into the phone, and Eva bit her tongue in attempt to quench her guilt, "I'm sorry." Stiles quickly hurried in apology, "I didn't mean that. I really didn't." Stiles' voice started to reach that high tone that meant he was probably going to start freaking out in less than a minute.

"Hey, it's okay." Eva shushed him as a weak laugh left her lips, "It's okay. You still get to be mad about that, okay?"

She heard Stiles sigh, but then a silence washed over the both of them. Lately a lot silences seemed to just suck the life out of their presence - Until Stiles finally started, "I'll see you at Lydia's, okay?"

"Yeah." Eva sighed, "I love you." She whispered, and she could almost see Stiles' smile as he whispered back, "I love you too."

And the line went dead.

Eva took a deep breath as she set the phone on the passenger seat and she turned into her destination, parking the car in front of the Martin household. Eva's eyes linger on the front door as she catiously gathered what courage she had and got out of the car. She was relieved when she saw Kira's car already parked there, her steps towards the house gaining more confidence until she finally reached the front door and pressed the doorbell once.

Eva smiled when Natalie opened the door, "Hi Mrs. Martin." Eva greeted the woman with a hug, before she let her in, "Kira's just helping Lydia getting ready." The woman explained, "But…she seems awfully okay about this." Eva turned to the woman, shaking her head in inquiry, "It's just…two days ago, she wouldn't talk to anyone, and now she's willing to attend a party." Natalie muttered, and Eva nodded slowly before she took a deep breath, "Lydia's strong." Eva whispered, "Don't worry about her…I'll…I'll talk to her."

Of course Eva didn't even know how she was going to do that when she hadn't even seen Lydia since the funeral. After she excused herself, Eva mounted the stairs to Lydia's room with heavy steps until she found the door and knocked gently. She expected Kira to open the door, but was taken aback when Lydia did. "Eva." Lydia's lips turned upward into a smile before she stepped aside, "Come in." Lydia stepped aside to reveal a Kira whose expression mirrored Eva's.

"I'm all ready, as you can see. You guys didn't have to come extra early to help me get ready." Lydia stated as she closed the door before she turned her gaze between the two girls, "Well, what do you think of the dress?" She asked as she turned slowly. Eva's lips parted in surprise before she finally managed to articulate any words, "It's gorgeous." Eva muttered before she smiled and nodded quickly, "As always." She added, before she turned to Kira, partially glaring at her to say something. "Yeah, it's definitely beautiful."

Lydia smiled at both of them, "I know." Lydia turned back to the mirror to touch up on her make up. Eva stared at Kira as the girl tilted her head towards their friend – one of them had to speak first, say something, and Eva shook her head furiously when Kira craned her neck further towards Lydia.

"Lydia, are you okay?" Kira finally blurted out in defeat, and the ginger turned to them with a confused expression on her face. "Do I look like I'm not okay?" She asked with genuine curiosity as she looked down at herself.

"No, you do look okay, that's the thing." Kira pointed out, before Eva added, "We're just worried about you. Pretending what happened didn't happen is not good."

"I thought this birthday party was supposed to be a distraction." Lydia muttered, her expression shifting from her usually jovial one to a stolid one. Eva chewed on the inside of her cheek and nodded slowly, "Well, I'm doing my best here." She started, "And I know Allison wouldn't want me to mope around. So does Scott. We talked. And decided we'll continue to live normally. We'll be fine. For her sake at least." Lydia nodded once as if affirming her words, and waited until both Eva and Kira eventually nodded as well. Lydia turned to the mirror again, "So which lipstick do I wear? Bubblegum Pink or Toffee Tango?"

"The tango." Kira breathed out, "Totally." Eva added before the two girls exchanged worried glances.

The doorbell rang and Lydia's eyes flickered to her room's door, "The boys must be here." She mumbled before she stood up and straightened out her dress. "Alright then, let's go. Let's get this show on the road. It's a school night and I want to get enough sleep in." Lydia pointed out before she ushered Kira and Eva towards the door. Eva lingered by the door, turning back to Lydia, "Hey um, look. I wanted to give you your gift now." Eva took a deep breath before she brought out the small velvet box from her jacket's pocket and opened it slowly, "This is the arrowhead Allison used to save my life. I was going to keep it but I realized I wasn't her best friend. You are, and I know it'll mean more to you. You deserve it more than I do." Eva whispered as she held out the box for Lydia and held her breath.

Lydia lifted trembling hands to grab the box before she sighed, and looked up at Eva, "Thank you." Lydia muttered as she closed the box and went back to find it a place inside one of her drawers. Eva's eyes had traveled to the ground before she turned to leave when Lydia came back. "Eva," Lydia called out, and the brunette turned back to her.

"Allison's death was not your fault." Lydia told her, and Eva stared at Lydia for a long moment before she took a deep breath, speaking before the weight of the words could hit her, "They guys are waiting downstairs." Eva whispered as she turned away and started making her way downstairs slowly.

When they walked into the dining room, the table was surrounded by their friends and Lydia's mom. Eva moved to find her place at Stiles' side. He took her hand and looked down at her, muttering a quiet _hey_ when he briefly met her gaze, just as Lydia walked in, and they began chanting the merry _Happy Birthday._ Lydia and Scott stood a few feet apart, as if subconsciously, they left space that was just enough fit Allison.

They blew out candles and gave out gifts. Lydia was right, both she and Scott seemed surprisingly fine. And Eva smiled, part of her proud, because her friends did what she couldn't do.

"Alright, you kids, it's time to go home." Natalie announced, and reluctantly they got up. Lydia exchanged hugs with everyone, lingering when it came to Scott, before eventually, they left.

Eva watched Kira drive off with Scott to take him home first before she turned to Stiles, "Alright, I have a surprise for you." Eva started, "So get in your car and tail me, okay?" She told him, lifting both brows.

"Oh, crime drama speak. You've been watching one of the shows I recommended." Stiles' lips twitched in a grin as he nodded in approval. Eva rolled her eyes as she swatted his arm, "Just get in your jeep." She told him as she hurried back towards her car to take off onto the road ahead of him.

Once they were parked in front of the Stilinski household, Eva got out of her car to face a very confused Stiles, "You took me back to my own house." He stated just as Eva walked up to him, "I know. Come on!" Eva took his hand, tugging him towards the front door, before she held her hand out for Stiles' keys. Once she got the door open, she led Stiles through the dark house until they found the dining room with Sheriff Stilinski standing there, with the cake that had the 17 candles lit on top. "We know your birthday's in a week but…" His father announced once just as Eva tugged him towards the table.

"You really didn't have to do that." Stiles stumbled over his words, his face turning into a shade of rose as he bowed his head, his free hand going to the back of his neck as he scratched it. Both Eva and the Sheriff began singing 'Happy Birthday' again, and Eva watched excitedly just as Stiles blew his candles, before she turned to the Sheriff, "Is it here?" She asked excitedly.

"It's in his room." The Sheriff told her with a grin, before Eva turned to Stiles, almost jumping on her feet. "Okay, cake later, gift now. Come on." Eva pushed him towards the stairs, allowing him to actually make his way up the stairs before she reached up on the tips of her toes to place her hands over his eyes.

"Eva, you're too short to be doing this. Come on, I'll just close my eyes." Stiles started, and Eva rolled her eyes, "No you won't. Keep walking." She told him until they finally reached his room, which was opened. Eva walked Stiles in until he was standing right in front of his surprise, "Don't open your eyes until I turn on the lights!" She exclaimed, "I won't be able to see it anyways…" Stiles breathed out a small laugh.

"Just, hush!" Eva mumbled as she turned on the light and hurried to stand beside the glass board. "Okay now open your eyes." She grinned broadly once he finally opened his eyes, "Your own personal glass board. You could you know, arrange your events and hang up motivational quotes or snoop in on your dad's cases." Eva explained as Stiles took in the gift.

"Oh my god, it's beautiful…" Stiles let out a choked whisper as he stepped towards the board, his eyes flickering across the silver frame to the transparent board, "It's actually the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on…"

Eva lifted both brows, before he quickly turned towards her, "You're the most beautiful _person_ I ever laid eyes upon, after my mom of course, but this…this…" Stiles' words got caught in his throat before he turned to Eva again, "I love you so much." He breathed out as he wrapped his arms around her torso and picked her up. Eva laughed as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck when he spun her around; before he set her down on the ground again and leaned down to press his lips to hers.

When the Sheriff cleared his throat at the door, they finally broke off the kiss and pulled away. Stiles turned to his dad and laughed nervously as again his face deepened into that shade of crimson again, "Right, Dad, thank you." Stiles breathed out as he stepped towards his dad to wrap his arms around him.

Eva smiled from where she stood, crossing her arms over her chest before she took a deep breath, for once a contented sigh leaving her lips. "Alright you two, I'll leave you for a while but Eva you can't stay too long. It's a school night and you need to be home, alright?" He warned them both before he left the room. Stiles turned back to Eva with a grin on his face. His eyes flickered to the board before he started towards her, "Have I mentioned that I loved you?" He mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her again, this time hoarding her back towards the bed until they both tumbled backwards.

"I think you've said it once or twice." Eva laughed as she squirmed underneath him before she could reach up to brush his messy hair back, "And I love you too." She nodded once, before Stiles leaned down to peck her lips once. Their eyes remained locked for a long moment, just lost in each other's gazes, appreciating the fact that they were both here. Before Eva eventually took a deep breath, "You wanna try out the board?" She whispered, simultaneously reaching into her pocket for the silver board marker she'd gotten him, "You get a silver marker." She teased as she shook in front of his face.

Stiles grabbed the marker and jumped to his feet, staring at the marker in his hands before he turned to Eva. "You're awesome." He told her, before he turned to the board. He took a deep breath before he scribbled on the bottom left corner of the board, _Property of S. Stilinski, gift from his amazing girlfriend, E. Davis._

Stiles pulled back to stare at the words he'd just written, and Eva could have sworn he was jumping on his feet. "This is awesome. So awesome." He breathed out before he set the marker down and turned back to her, "You're amazing. You're actually amazing." Stiles shook his head slowly as stepped towards her to brush a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, "We'll be fine." He finally breathed out, Eva let her shoulders slump, "Again with that F-word." Eva mumbled, having heard enough of it tonight.

"Come on, you know it." Stiles started as his hands moved to rest on Eva's waist, "Just say it and you'll believe it."

"We'll…" Eva started, before she eventually sighed and smiled up at him, "We'll be fine."

"That's a girl." Stiles whispered as he leaned down to press his lips to Eva's again.


	3. Starting Line

**A/N:**

 **This chapter is mainly a filler chapter because of the abundance of plot holes that were in the beginning of season four that really, really irked. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing. Don't forget to leave a review for good luck!**

* * *

It had been roughly three weeks since Allison's funeral. And Eva remembered clearly, not because she's been counting days since the funeral, but because she's been counting days till everyone at school stopped looking at her like she'd explode any minute now.

Truth be told, Eva couldn't blame them. She'd be cautious around herself too if she'd heard about what happened. The new girl whose mother died, got depressed, went to get help at a mental institution only to almost die there – and eventually end up as witness (and also be the reason) that one of her friends died. Eva used to be upset people called her a jinx but now she knew it was true – she _was_ a jinx.

However, the group had fairly managed to slip into the blissfully monotonous lives of high school juniors along those past three weeks. Lydia went back to crushing everyone and maintaining a GPA unattainable by normal human beings. The Lacrosse team got dismantled because both Isaac and Aiden left and new try outs would be held in a week, so Stiles and Scott spent extra time on the field, and Eva even got to tease Stiles about going to the gym. Kira was no longer the new girl. It all seemed to go well.

Except for one person.

Eva's mind refused to wrap around the fact that Malia would attend high school with them – but apparently, within the weeks she was free, she had enough time to get aptitude tests that resulted in her mental fitness to be part of a high school community. But what truly surprised Eva was the fact that Malia was actually attending classes with them. Advanced Biology, Calculus, Economics, History – the whole shebang.

Eva had had already decided that she'd be helping Malia in any and every way possible before school started. She'd even devised a plan to badger her until the were-coyote would finally cave and accept the help Eva was willing to offer. But what Malia came up to her with was – well – a surprise would be an understatement.

 _Eva was standing by Lydia's locker as the ginger got her books for her first class. She glanced sideways when she heard the whispers again, "I heard she freaked out when their car got pulled over. That's why Allison jumped in front of her." "Doesn't that make it her fault?" "I would have freaked out too." "But what about that kid at Eichen House? And the fact that_ his _dad almost hit her with a car and died?"_

 _Eva chewed on the insides of her cheek. She knew the whispers wouldn't cease, and the looks would only become crueler. This time though, it wasn't like before – this time she felt nothing. The words couldn't reach her or get to her. Not because she possessed an oh so strong personality that was immune to that. It was because she believes every word. She knew every word was, on a level, true. They were only being a little more condescending about it._

" _Just ignore it." Lydia spoke, her words loud enough for the passing group of sophomores to hear her clearly, "The students in this place are too shallow to understand what you've been through. All the judgment is coming from a strive for attention." And with that she turned around to meet the girl who'd been whispering, her emerald hues holding her gaze in a fiery threat, before the girl scurried away with her friends. Lydia turned back to Eva and smiled briefly, "You'll be fine. All of this will…It will fade away." Lydia whispered, her voice holding some sadness over the fact. It was true. It will fade. Just like Erica and Boyd did – heck, the only reason Eva had even known about Erica and Boyd was the fact that she needed to be filled in on what her aunt did. There were no mentions of them in the school. No photos. No memorials. Not even friends who talked about them. Nothing. And just like them, the student population of Beacon Hills High was planning on forgetting Allison as well. A fact that didn't sit well with Eva or any of her friends, but a fact that was inevitable. And all they could do is always remember her to keep her somewhat alive with them._

 _Eva gave Lydia a brief smile in response, before they both turned their attention towards Kira who arrived in front of them, breathless. "You won't believe who I just saw."_

" _Who?" Lydia asked, before Eva's eyes drifted to the stairs, and she felt a gush of air leave her lips in disbelief as she saw Coach stepping into the hallway, followed by none other than her nuthouse roomie, "Malia."_

 _It was as if the girl had heard her, or well that she did in fact hear her, because Malia's eyes turned to meet Eva's. Eva blinked furiously, before she felt a small smile grace her lips – a nervous smile. One she didn't expect Malia would return. But the were-coyote did. It wasn't as much of a smile as it was more of a joyous smirk. Eventually, Malia turned her attention back to the Coach, and Eva heard part of their conversation as they passed by._

" _Have you ever run track? I mean you have excellent muscle definition."_

" _I sometimes ran from cougars trying to eat me." Eva closed her eyes – if Malia was at all planning on using her help, they would have a lot to work on._

" _I've got the same problem. So listen, we're gonna start off slow, a few classes here and there. Don't worry. You'll learn fast."_

 _Malia held Eva's gaze as she answered him, "I intend to." And she flitted away from the girls._

 _Eva turned back to Lydia and Kira, "We're going to help her, right?" Eva asked, wondering if her friends had the same thoughts she'd had. Kira glanced back at the direction Malia had disappeared in before she turned back to them, "I'll do my best."_

" _Me too." Lydia nodded eagerly, and Eva smiled at the response she'd gotten from both of them. She already knew Scott and Stiles were willing to help Malia regarding her control. She just needed someone to help her regarding being a human. The decision was made, but they needed to act on it, but the bell's ringing only dispersed them. Lydia headed towards one of her AP classes while Kira and Eva made their way back to History class._

 _It was a long day – the classes seemed to pass sluggishly slow. Eva stared at the clock hanging above every board in every classroom, counting seconds not minutes till the ends of each class. It proved difficult to sit through French before glancing sideways at the seat that used to be occupied by Allison. She even screwed up the painting she'd been working on the whole year – or well ever since she'd arrived when she thought she heard Allison's frustrated huff beside her. Allison was not artsy, and her canvas always ended up in splotches. Lydia and Eva always teased her about it, said she invented a new form of contemporary art. Now Eva ended up throwing away her canvas to start over._

 _Eva still couldn't believe all that happened in the past five months. She's been in this town for barely half a year and her life did a spin that almost did away with her. Just months ago, she was the quiet, Maine girl who babysat for half the town and rather remained invested in her sketchbook than do anything else. Now she was…a druid. She'd always been a druid, of course, but all the beliefs she now had in her life. All the events. All the people._

 _In midst of her stride, someone stepped in front of her, cutting Eva's thoughts and making the girl jump back as she drew an audible gasp through her lips. When she looked up, she realized Malia was staring at her with a lifted brow. "You get scared easy." She pointed out, and Eva sighed, closing her eyes. Once her heart restarted, she took a deep breath and stood up straight. "How are you, Malia?" Eva asked, her voice soft._

" _You said your friend could help me. The alpha." Malia got straight to her point, and Eva frowned, "You still want to turn back into a coyote?" And in her mind, Eva was already going over the main points of the speech she was going to give Malia._

" _No. My father won't be able to handle that." Malia's voice dropped, "I need you to teach me how to be, you know. Like you. Human." Eva lifted both brows in surprise – she didn't even get started with her speech at all. "Oh.", was all Eva managed to get to leave her lips._

" _I need to control myself." Malia complained, "My claw…nail things keep coming out and my eyes change color when I'm upset and I don't know what to do." Malia's voice was too loud and anyone passing by would surely be very wary of the conversation, but Eva only gave Malia a soft smile, "Don't worry, we'll help you. All of us."_

 _Malia nodded once, before standing still, staring down at her. Eva's eyes flickered across the hallway nervously, "Well, are you not going to help me now?" Malia demanded, her tone impatient. Eva blinked once, "Malia, the school day didn't end yet. There are still three more classes."_

" _Can't we just leave?" Malia asked, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. Eva smiled a bit at her, "Look, once the classes are over, can you meet me here again? Then I'll introduce you to everybody and we'll see what we can do."_

" _Why do I have to meet your friends?" Malia asked again, and Eva realized the hallway around them started to filter out of people._

" _Because they'll all help too." Eva explained, before she looked up at Malia, "What class do you have now?"_

" _Why can't you and your alpha friend help me alone?" Malia demanded again – and Eva was reminded of her days back in Maine. It was awful that her conversation with Malia reminded her of when she used to baby sit, but Eva had to remind herself that Malia had been a coyote for eight years. The fact that she was capable of speaking coherently in itself was a miracle._

" _Do you trust me?" Eva asked as she finally turned to the girl, who stared down at her with hesitant brown hues. "I don't know." Malia muttered._

" _Do you want to?" Eva rephrased, trying to offer her best encouraging smile. Malia shrugged once, and Eva took a deep breath, "Good, that's all I need." Eva nodded, "Now what's your next class?"_

" _Calculus." Malia nodded slowly, "I think." Eva nodded slowly, "Okay, okay, that's weird, but okay. I have Calculus too." Eva smiled a bit, "Come on." She nodded once at the girl and started walking slowly, making sure that Malia was following her._

Eva glanced sideways, spying Malia's face as she tried to solve the problem they were given on the board, her brows pulled into a frown – and expression that was molded into Malia's face at almost all the classes they'd attended together.

Eva couldn't help the small sigh that left her lips when Malia angrily pushed a loose tendril of her hair back behind her ear – the caramel colored tendril, only recently dyed.

" _Being human is not just about being able to control your were-coyote side." Lydia explained to Malia who rode silently in the back seat, the terrified expression on her face only making Eva laugh. "It's about looking human too. We need to make sure you look twenty-first century fashionable so you can fit in."_

 _Eva glanced back at Malia whose lips curled back in distaste, "I don't think I ever liked going shopping." She muttered as she turned to Eva, but Lydia quickly interrupted, "Well your dad asked us to help us buy you new clothes. And I have a surprise for you."_

" _I don't like surprises." Malia shot back curtly, and Eva turned an inquisitive gaze to Lydia, who heaved a sigh in defeat. "Fine, fine. We're getting your hair cut and dyed. And you know. Everything else. We're fixing you up, head to toe." Lydia's eyes almost twinkled with excitement – Eva could tell giving people makeovers was something that Lydia lived for._

" _Is it going to hurt?" Malia asked, her voice getting smaller._

" _It probably will." Eva answered honestly as she met the girl's gaze in the rearview mirror, "But we'll be there, don't worry."_

 _They'd arrived at the mall not less than five minutes later, and spent the budget Mr. Tate had given them getting Malia all she needed, their resource being Macy's and Forever 21. Malia's tendency to pick florals and beige/brown shades only seemed to make Lydia begin to like the girl even more. Which was…good._

" _Now the fun part." Lydia announced as the three girls walked into the salon after they had put the fruits of the day in the car._

" _Ms. Martin!" A tall man called from the far end of the lobby as he walked up to the girl, "It's been a while since I've seen you, mon Cherie." He whispered as he leaned down to press a light kiss over Lydia's hand. Eva lifted a brow as she glanced sideways at Lydia, who only seemed somewhat pleased at the treatment._

" _I know, Mark." Lydia smiled a bit, "But you know what's been going on in town." She mumbled and Mark's face twisted, "I know. I'm so sorry about Ms. Argent, Ms. Martin. I know she's been a close friend of yours."_

 _Eva and Malia simultaneously turned to study the redhead's expression as it darkened, her face losing color, before she swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. "Thank you." She nodded, her tone finalizing as she moved onto the new topic at hand. "My friend here, Ms. Tate," Lydia's eyes flickered to Eva's face and Eva felt herself shrink in guilt. She hadn't told Malia yet about her…true origins. And Lydia was the one giving her the hardest time about it._ "The less she knows, the easier it'll be for him to manipulate her when she finds out." _Lydia had told her once, and Eva knew she was right, but the situation was never right._

 _Eva was awoken from her epiphany when Malia nudged her, "Come on." She mumbled, almost pleading. Eva smiled encouragingly at her and followed them. It took them about fifteen minutes to pick a hair color – caramel brown, ombre'd from the roots. Completely new haircut. And of course Lydia was going to put effort into Malia's eye brows and mani/pedis._

 _To say that Lydia and Eva spent the next three hours holding Malia to the seat would be an understatement. For a werecoyote, she had little pain tolerance to tweezers and wax, but when it was done, and Malia stood in front of the mirror, a huge grin stretched on her face,_

" _So?" Lydia asked as the werecoyote leaned forward, resting her hands on the vanity to stare at herself in the mirror._

" _I look like you." Malia muttered, still staring at herself before she turned to the girls, her face the happiest Eva had ever seen. "I look like a normal girl!" Malia exclaimed before she stepped towards Eva and Lydia and pulled them both into a hug._

 _Eva laughed as Malia eventually pulled away, then turned to Mark, who too got himself a bear hug as well. As they left, Eva lowered her voice, "Next time, just saying thank you to strangers would be enough." Eva instructed Malia, who lifted a brow. "But I just hugged him."_

" _We don't hug everyone. Just people we care about." Eva told her, "People we know and trust."_

" _So it's okay to hug you?" Malia asked, and Eva's lips fell slack, before she smiled and nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's okay, Malia."_

Eva blinked in surprise when she heard the bell ring, her eyes flickering to the clock above the board. It was lunch time – the day seemed to pass so slowly. That, or the fact that she was exhausted enough to think the minutes were crawling by.

And of course, the main reason and cause for Eva's exhaustion was the fact that she didn't sleep all night. Not because she physically couldn't – but because Malia wouldn't let her.

 _Eva was just wrapping the towel around her body, stepping out into the hallway. Daniel never left his room – and it alarmed her but at some point she felt better knowing he was home and safe from all the darkness that lurked in town. And Eva's father was almost always at the coffee table sorting out bills or at work, more often than none did he have a bottle of beer beside him._

 _She walked quickly but carefully towards her room and walked in, only to let out a scream when she saw Malia standing in front of her, drenched in rain. She stared at the girl for a long minute before Eva finally managed to breathe again. "Malia?!" She exclaimed, shaking her head inquisitively._

" _What is it, what's wrong?"_

 _Eva turned around to see Daniel standing behind her with a baseball bat in his hand – before she shook her head slowly, "Nothing…" She finally managed to breathed out, closing her eyes. "Malia's…" Eva eyes open to flicker towards the were-coyote, staring at her, opting for an explanation._

" _I couldn't sleep. I have a History test tomorrow." Malia shrugged, "I figured I could sleep here tonight."_

" _Oh." Daniel mumbled, lowering the bat as he stared the drenched werecoyote head to toe, before he turned to Eva, "I thought you were with Stiles?"_

 _Eva stared agape at her twin brother, "I am." She stressed, "It's just…Malia trusts me." Eva muttered, shaking her head slowly. She was not in the mood to explain a coyote's instinctive sense of territory and loyalty towards 'another member of the pack' right. Daniel lifted a brow at her, before he shook his head slowly. "Let me get her something of mine's to wear. You're too short to give her something of yours." And he disappeared into the hallway._

" _He's not like you." Malia muttered, still staring off at where Daniel stood, before she turned to Eva, her face lightening up. "So can I stay?"_

" _Well," Eva took a deep breath, "You didn't really give me much of a choice but it's good you remembered to take permission, at some point. That's progress." Eva encouraged the girl, trying to smile. Malia still stared at her with those wide, brown eyes until Eva finally decided to give her the answer straight – implying didn't seem to work well with Malia yet, "You can stay, Malia."_

" _Here." Daniel reappeared with a shirt folded over a pair of sweats, and a towel on top. Malia stepped towards him and snatched the clothes from him, setting them on Eva's bed. She had already taken off her shirt when Eva coughed loudly. Malia turned to her, before her eyes widened, "Oh right!" She turned to Daniel and smiled, "Thank you." She nodded firmly, before she proceeded to take off her shoes and jeans. Eva quickly pushed her brother out of the room and closed the door._

" _You know how weird this is, right?" Daniel pointed out, and Eva heaved out a loud sigh. "I know." Eva muttered quietly, abusing the fact that Malia couldn't focus her hearing yet. "But she'll learn."_

" _She drops off anytime she likes, climbs through windows, and now she wants to sleep over?" Daniel lifted a brow, crossing his arms over his chest._

" _She's my responsibility, Daniel. No one asked you to give her your clothes if you didn't want to. I'll look after her." Eva protested._

" _I'm part of this household as much as you are. You don't get to make decisions on your own anymore." Daniel reminded her, and Eva turned her gaze away. "You know she needs time to learn. She's been through a lot. You of all people should understand that." Eva mumbled quietly and turned to hold her brother's gaze. He stared down at her, his hazel eyes hardened, "For someone who wanted to direly save her brother, you seem to be spending an awful less time away from me. And now you're making opinions about me?"_

" _I didn't-" Eva started to argue, but Daniel cut her off, "Just keep her away from me." Daniel whispered sharply and turned to leave. Eva flinched when he slammed the door to his room shut._

 _She knocked and walked in, smiling a bit when she saw Malia in the dry clothes. "Your brother doesn't like me very much." Malia pointed out, and Eva pursed her lips guiltily._

" _I don't think he likes me either." Eva sighed as she headed towards her wardrobe to grab her clothes. "But he needs time. I'd hate me too if I were him." Eva nodded to herself – or at least that was what she was trying to convince herself. "I'm going to go change and put your clothes in the dryer, alright?" Eva told the girl as she held the dry clothes in her arm and the wet ones in the other, "Don't go anywhere." Eva instructed Malia, trying to put on her most serious face. Malia nodded quickly, and Eva had to trust that, before she left the room._

 _By the time she was back, Malia was staring at the photo of Eva, her mother, and her aunt that Eva never really dared to throw away. "That's you, right?" Malia asked as she pointed to the child with the missing front teeth in the photo. Eva smiled a bit, "That's me."_

" _And that's your mom? Who's that?" Malia wondered out loud, causing Eva to chew on the inside of her cheek. She looked down, "That's my mom. And the other woman is my aunt." Eva mumbled as she picked up Malia's shoes to set them by her wardrobe._

" _Where are they now?" Malia asked and Eva stepped towards her, "They're dead." Eva mumbled sadly as she reached for the frame to set the photo down on the nightstand again, "Now it's time to sleep. We have school tomorrow."_

 _Malia stared up at Eva before she eventually swallowed down her curiosity and lied down on the bed. She scooted in just enough for Eva to climb onto the bed as well. The girls got settled in quietly, Eva curling up on her side, checking her phone one last time before closing the lights._

" _Malia?" She called out, but was answered by the girl's soft snores. She lifted both brows before she set the phone on the nightstand and closed the lights, snuggling up into the blankets to sleep too._

 _Until Malia kicked Eva's leg away, sprawling herself on the half of the bed she was on. Eva frowned, tucking her knees up to curl up. Then Malia started breathing – loudly and against the back of Eva's neck._

 _It was going to be a long night._

Eva had already decided that she'd take Malia back to Derek's loft after school - and finally break the news to her. She decided she needed Derek there, since he was the only living, positive aspect of the Hale family that she counted would influence Malia in a good way. So she texted him throughout the whole day – and despite the fact that she knew Derek wasn't exactly tech savvy and would probably ignore her text to brood somewhere, she'd began to grow worried.

Eva leaned against her locker, texting vigorously and staring down at her screen. No reply. She frowned and looked up – already tempted to skip the rest of the day to go check out what was wrong. After all, the hallways were empty, and since she was resident jinx, no one would actually dare talk to her. She looked down at her phone again before she chewed on the inside of her cheek, quickly typing a text to Stiles, _Tell Malia I'll meet her at her place after school, okay? Love you._

She left it at that and turned to stuff all what she didn't need into the locker, moving quietly through the hallways to leave the school.

"Going somewhere?" Eva whirled around to see Scott smiling a bit at her – it had been a while since Eva and Scott had had a moment to talk. She took a deep breath and shrugged, "Just going to check on Derek." She answered briefly, "Me too." Scott answered, "Usually he calls or drops by after every full moon to make sure everyone was fine and he hasn't showed up. It's been three days since the last full moon."

"So you really think something is wrong?" Eva asked, her concern spiking up again as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, there's only way to find out." And he gestured for her to follow him. The remained silent until they reached Scott's dirt bike – the trip was meant to be short. If he was fine, which hopefully he would be, they'd come back to school and hopefully not miss last period. If he wasn't, they'd call Deaton, who'd eventually tell them to leave and hopefully not miss last period.

They'd arrived in no time, and Eva hopped off the bike, handing her helmet over to Scott. She glanced sideways at the boy, frowning at his unusual, tacit attitude. "Are you okay?" She asked, frowning a little. Scott turned back to her and shrugged, "I'm fine." He answered, trying to purse his lips into a smile. "I'm fine." He assured her when Eva kept staring at him.

And that was it for the conversation between the two of them. The trip along the stairs was silent until they were finally standing in front of the door to the loft, the door that was half opened. Eva and Scott exchanged nervous looks before he pulled at the door, revealing Derek's loft – only it looked like it had been hit by a hurricane.

"Oh my god..." Eva breathed out, her eyes widening as they both walked in slowly. Scott's eyes flickered rapidly across the room as Eva stared at the holes in the wall – holes that could only be caused by bullets. "What the hell happened here?"

"I think I got an idea." Scott breathed out, and Eva glanced back to see him crouched over something. She moved towards him just as he stood up and handed her a bullet case – a bullet case with a peculiar engraving of a skull on it. She'd seen lots of weaponry with engravings on them – like the fleur-de-lis that the Argents used on their bullets…and arrowheads.

Eva turned to Scott, feeling her blood run cold. "Hunters."


	4. MIA

**A/N:**

 **I know it's been ages - but this semester of college has literally been murdering me, and it's finals time so I figured, let's study all day and try to get back into my writing groove. I just wanna remind everyone that Who We Are is actually finished and just waiting to be proofread and published, I'm just suffering from severe writer's block with the next sequel in the series (which is going to be the final one). Anyways, like I said, a lot of my chapters for season 4 include explanations I've thought of to the thousands of plot holes in the season; so I'm just hoping they sound goo to you guys. Anyhow, I'm sorry for the long, long delay, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Eva stood by the loft's door, away from all the mess. She couldn't let herself touch anything – she didn't even want to look around. Part of her afraid that maybe if she found something, it would only be proof that Derek was not okay. That there's a possibility he wasn't alive. Scott, on the other hand, had spent almost half an hour searching the loft, as if he'd find Derek hiding somewhere.

But of course he didn't.

The only thing they'd found, or Scott found, were a couple of more bullet cases – all with the same skull engraved on it. And since the only person they knew with any knowledge of hunters was in another continent, they called their only confidante, Deaton.

Eva glanced back when she heard the footfalls drawing closer on the stairs, and breathed out when she saw Deaton and Stiles arrived at the floor to walk through the door.

"What happened?" Stiles asked as his eyes scanned the tarnished loft, turning to Eva, his forehead losing its smooth texture when his brows pulled into an obvious frown.

"It's been weeks since Derek answered any of my, our texts." Scott started, "Does Derek answer any texts?" Stiles asked, and Eva nodded slowly, "Once, definitely once. I mean I thought he was ignoring me because he wanted me to be a teenager, or whatever." Eva's eyes flickered to Scott, "It's not like Derek to disappear like this. It's been almost a week since the last full moon, and he never showed."

"We were here to check on him, and we found the place like this." Eva explained quietly, "We also found these." Scott walked up to them with the bullet cases in his hands. Stiles reached out for one just as Deaton did, and stared down at it. "Hunters?" Stiles finally deduced and looked up. Eva and Scott both turned to Deaton in hopes that he may have any information about this.

"A family of hunters, actually." Deaton spoke calmly as he examined the engravings, "This is their mark." Deaton looked up at the teenagers, "They're a family of hunters based out of Mexico."

Eva closed her eyes, one name crossing her mind – she hadn't read thoroughly on all the information she had about hunters within the grimoire, but the description was too spot on for her not to recall the name; she even remembered the skull sketched hastily on one of the pages, and sighed a little, "The Calaveras." She whispered, before she opened her eyes to meet Deaton's amused gaze. "You've been reading." Eva's smile was fleeting, but she acknowledged the approval in his gaze. Deaton nodded before he turned to Scott, "Do you have any idea why the Calaveras would want anything from Derek?"

Scott shook his head slowly, "Derek never mentioned anything to me." He mumbled, his voice falling at the idea that Derek might have been hiding something from him.

"The Calaveras act as enforcers of the code. They think it's their job to make sure all hunters abide by it." Eva whispered quietly, "The code is their life. They wouldn't step foot out of their comfort zone unless a hunter had broken the code or to enforce it."

"But a hunter _has_ broken the code." Stiles whispered quietly as he flickered his gaze nervously between Eva and Scott. Scott's face fell and Eva's jaw tightened, shaking her head slowly, "Even if we think this way," Eva whispered, "What would they want to do with Derek?"

"I think I can pull some strings to find out what's going on." Deaton spoke up finally after seeming in deep thought for a long moment.

"We don't even know if he's alive or not." Eva whispered quietly as her gaze fell to the ground, feeling the goosebumps rise on her skin at thought of Derek being dead, or just hurt, in general.

"But we can." Stiles blurted as he met Scott's gaze with a knowing look. The alpha breathed out a sigh, the same softly articulated, "Lydia."

* * *

Scott, Stiles, and Eva were in one of the exam rooms in Deaton's clinic – Eva sat on one of the counters, staring down at the plain tiles as she rocked her feet back and forth, bumping the cupboard with her heels ever now and then. Until Stiles placed his hands over thigh to still her motion, "Calm down." He told her seriously, and she scowled.

"I can't." Eva whispered, shaking her head, "He could be dead. He could be tortured. Just because we know one good family of hunters doesn't mean they all are."

"Technically, they weren't all good." Scott muttered quietly, "It was Allison that made them good."

At the mention of her name, the room fell into an a strained silence. They didn't usually manage to pick up a conversation fluently whenever Allison's name came up – mostly because they expected Allison to answer to her own name and join in.

Once the pause had faded, Eva breathed out, "I can't help but think if I didn't listen to him and actually went to the loft as regularly as I wanted to, I might have been able to help."

"You could've gotten hurt." Scott spoke quietly, "Don't blame yourself." He tried to assure her, but the frown never left Eva's face.

They maintained their silence until the bells announced someone had walked into the clinic. Scott was the first to move, since he was the only one with a valid excuse to being in the clinic in case it'd been a customer who needed to be informed that the clinic was closed. He did return with the strawberry blonde trailing after him, a puzzled expression on her face, "Where were you? Malia couldn't stop asking about where you went." Lydia turned to Eva with a delicately arched brow.

"I," Eva started before she glanced sideways at Scott, "We went to check on Derek. He'd been quiet for weeks and we wanted to make sure he was okay."

"And?" Lydia inquired with an inquisitive head shake.

"And we found those bullet cases in the loft." Scott stepped towards the exam table just as Eva hopped off the counter and went to stand beside Lydia. Scott picked out one of the bullet cases to show to Lydia, "They belong to family of hunters in Mexico, the Calaveras."

"Hunters." Lydia's face twisted into an alarmed expression before she flickered her gaze between both Scott and Stiles, "And? Is that all we know?" She demanded, clearly displeased with the lack of available information.

"Well," Stiles started, shifting his weight nervously, "We wanted to find out if he was still alive." Stiles whispered, before he met Lydia's gaze. Lydia's face fell as her eyes trailed downwards to the metallic container.

"I read that what makes banshees gifted is their ability to hear what normal humans cannot hear." Eva explained slowly, "You need to hear something that's connected to those bullets." Eva told Lydia – she remembered the promise she'd made to the girl. When they rejected Peter's help it became Eva's job to help Lydia figure out how to use her powers, and she's been researching ever since. Her work was not conclusive, but these were dire times and they needed to use what they had. "Just make noise with them," Eva gestured to the container, "And listen."

Lydia took a deep breath, her gaze not shifting away from the container before she reached into it for a handful of bullets. At first, Lydia just held them in her grip, but she could only hear everyone's breathing, and Stiles' irritable shuffling. "Still." Lydia didn't even open her eyes but Si. She waited to see whether she could just hear something by holding them, but she didn't or she couldn't. She wasn't so sure yet. Her eyes flickered sideways to Eva, who nodded at her encouragingly.

Lydia closed her eyes and the let the bullets drop to the exam table. Eva flinched but didn't emit a sound as she watched Lydia almost stop breathing – the air around them seemed to hold still, until Lydia finally opened her eyes.

"So," Stiles started, "Is he dead?"

"No…" Lydia whispered, and Eva almost breathed a sigh of relief, "But I'm not so sure he's alive either."

"But what does that mean?" Scott asked as Eva leaned forward to glimpse Lydia's face. The girl's troubled emerald's met Eva's hazels and she frowned, "I don't know…something's not right, I can feel it. I just…I don't know."

Eva felt her heart ache when she saw Lydia struggle with her own powers, "That's enough. That's all we could use. This means we can actually do something." Eva tried to reassure her.

"But what could we possibly do?" Stiles asked, which made Eva turn to him and send him a glare.

"We could go to Mexico." Scott whispered quietly, searching for reactions on each of his friends' faces. Lydia seemed to gain back her focus even when the shakiness still possessed her being, "Are you serious?" She asked, lifting a brow. Scott shrugged once, "Yes, I am. We go to Mexico and talk to them. I'm sure Derek did nothing. There has to be a reason."

"Scott, you do realize that they are _hunters,_ right?" Stiles pointed out, clasping his hands together, "They _kill_ the likes of you. Cut them in half or decapitate them to make sure they don't survive and don't heal. You do realize that talking would probably not be the first precaution they'd take if they found out there was a werewolf in their town, let alone an alpha."

"Stiles is right," Eva added, "We don't know what they're like. We don't even know who they are. We don't know what they want with Derek and we know absolutely nothing about the town in Mexico that they live in. We can't just plunge blindly into this."

"But we have to do something." Scott pressed, "This is Derek we're talking about here. We can't just sit around when he's been missing for who knows how long."

"We never said we'd sit around." Lydia countered silently, "There's a camping trip this weekend." Lydia started slowly, "We could use this. It will be our chance to actually go down to Mexico if we really intended on pulling this off, but," Lydia quickly added as she met Scott's gaze, "We can't plunge into this blindly, Eva's right. We have to wait until we have enough information about what we're getting ourselves into. We have to be smart."

"I can try to find out all that I possibly can about the Calaveras, if it helps." Eva offered quietly, "I mean, I know Deaton is going to help us but we still need more information, right?"

"You won't need much." Deaton spoke as he walked into the exam room – causing everyone, including Scott, to jump. Deaton lifted a brow, "Sorry." He whispered before he set his brief case on the counter and started, "I've talked to a friend of mine in Mexico. He said the Calaveras have Derek for sale for any of the hunter families that hold vendettas against the Hale family."

"What?" Eva stared agape at Deaton, her face losing color, "What the hell? Can they even do that? Is that part of their code?"

Deaton frowned and shook his head slowly, "I've never heard of this before - maybe they need the money." Deaton shrugged.

"So we need to _buy_ Derek?" Stiles asked, before she stopped, "Now that's something I definitely did not imagine myself saying in a million years."

Both Lydia and Eva turned to glare at Stiles this time, who held up his hands in surrender and turned his attention back to Deaton. "Exactly, but there _is_ a problem." Deaton whispered, "The amount of money is….well, it's not easy to achieve."

"How much is it?" Scott asked quietly, and Deaton sighed, "A hundred thousand dollars."

"Holy shit." Eva breathed out, her eyes widening. Stiles turned to his girlfriend, surprised at the tone she'd taken for a reaction. Eva glanced back at him and shook her head slowly, before she turned to Deaton, "How the hell are we going to get our hands on a hundred thousand dollars?" Eva asked in a hope that maybe Deaton had a thought in mind of what they could possibly do.

"Actually," Deaton took a deep breath, "I know I have a few favors with a group of…people here." Deaton mumbled quietly as he paced away from them towards his brief case. "And I think they can afford to lend us the money."

"What kind of favor would make someone give someone else a hundred grand?" Stiles inquired in disbelief, "The kind you don't want to know about." Deaton answered curtly, before he turned back to the teenagers.

"Who has this kind of money, Dr. Deaton?" Eva asked quietly, pursing her lips in concern. Deaton turned to her, and decided after a long minute to disclose that piece of information. "Are you familiar with the name, Yakuza?"

"Japanese mafia?" Eva lifted both brows in surprise, her mind having not soared as far enough as Japanese mafia. She knows she read about them a lot – and she knows that lots if not most of the ones who are here in California, or America even, are Kitsunes. Deaton nodded in approval, before he took a deep breath, "I can arrange the money to be delivered by the weekend. I'm assuming that's when you are planning to go down there?"

"Hopefully," Scott muttered, "But we still don't know much about the place."

"The friend I contacted can meet you at the borders and guide you. I trust him with my life, so it'd be okay for you to trust him as well." Deaton reassured them. Eva pursed her lips before she turned to look up at Stiles, "I guess we're going to Mexico this weekend then."

* * *

Eva had finally convinced her father of the 'camping trip' this weekend. It was a school thing, surely, and she had her permission slip signed, even though she didn't need once, and stashed it somewhere in her room as she rushed inside.

"So where are you guys really going?"

Eva jumped back, this time refraining from audibly reacting when she saw Malia sitting at the edge of Eva's bed. Eva took a deep breath and closed the door, "We're going to Mexico." Eva finally whispered as she moved to sit beside Malia on the bed, "Remember Derek? I told you about him. He's one of our…friends."

"Yeah, you said we were supposed to meet him yesterday." Malia nodded attentively, almost like a child, and Eva smiled, before she continued, "Well, I went to his place to check on him. He usually doesn't answer texts but it had been weeks." Eva made sure to include all the details lest Malia ever find herself in a similar situation, she'd know what to do. "So I went to check on him with Scott, and we found his placed trashed. There were bullet cases."

"From guns?" Malia's eyes widened, and Eva nodded slowly, "A family of hunters in Mexico have taken him. We know that they have him for 'sale' so we're going to Mexico to attempt a deal."

"That's it? That's the deal?" Eva whirled around to see Daniel standing by her door, that he'd opened so quietly Eva hadn't noriced, and she scowled, "Why were you spying?" Eva demanded, more infuriated at herself because she wanted to keep Daniel as far away from all of this as possible.

"I wasn't. I just heard you talking as I walked by the door." He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the door frame, "So that's your deal? You're just going to go to Mexico and buy a werewolf from hunters?" Daniel ended his words with a disbelieving laugh – he'd lived a life where the craziest thing he'd done would have been to drive at the age of twelve. But the words that left his mouth now made everything around him seem so mundane. He wanted to be part of this, somehow.

"There's someone who's meeting us there – he'll help us." Eva nodded slowly, but Daniel only let out a scoff, "You do realize how insane that is?"

"It's kind of stupid." Malia added, and Eva closed her eyes, reaching out to pinch the bridge of her nose. "We're not going to just go for it. We have a whole day to plan what we can do before we actually do anything. But just in case, we'll have the money."

"When do you leave?" Daniel asked, and Eva took a deep breath, "Tomorrow. We'll be on the road by evening."

"Great." Daniel mumbled as he pushed himself off the doorframe, "I'll go pack then."

"No," Eva started as she hopped off the bed and started towards him, "No, no." She repeated, shaking her head, "You're not going anywhere."

Daniel quirked a brow, "Eva, just because you've got some powers up your sleeve doesn't mean you're ready to trick and deceive people. And it looks to me that this trip is going to be all about that. You'll need me."

"We have Stiles. And Lydia." Eva crossed her arms over her chest.

"They both seem like a pair of gary and mary sues to me, respectively of course." Daniel rolled his shoulders in a shrug, "I might have not known them, and I might not know them, but I know for a fact that your geeky boyfriend and genius ginger are not going to be able to pull this off. They won't be able to deal under the table. I can do that."

"Why do you want to come so much?" Eva narrowed her eyes, and Daniel smiled, "Call it bonding time. See you in the morning, twin." And he left her room without much of a chance for her to protest again. Eva stared after him, feeling her face grow redder with each passing moment as she stomped her foot once and covered her face.

"Do I pack too?" Malia asked, and Eva took a deep breath as she turned to the werecoyote. It wasn't an option to leave her behind, and they were after all stronger in numbers. Scott needed his pack, just in case. "Yeah." Eva nodded slowly, "But not too much. Look."

And Eva went ahead to demonstrate what Malia would need for their short trip.

* * *

One backpack had Eva and Malia's clothes, and was thrown aimlessly by the front door as they waited. Eva was pacing around the room relentlessly, Malia's eyes following her as she did, while Daniel sat silently in the armseat.

"If you're nervous now, what are you going to do when we get to the actual work?" Daniel pointed out calmly, and Eva turned to him, almost glared, but realized he was right. She looked down when her phone rang – and leaned down to pick up the backpack, "Let's go." She mumbled as she opened the door and held it for both Malia and Daniel, then locked it and followed them downstairs.

Stiles was waiting by the jeep, lifting a brow when he saw not two but three people heading his way. He stood up straight when it hit he'd never actually met Daniel before. He shot Eva a look before he turned to the other boy – who held a striking similarity to Eva's features. "I'm—"

"Stiles, yes, the geeky boyfriend." Daniel nodded, "And I'm the brother they didn't want." Daniel added, "It's nice to finally meet you. Feel free to act normal around your girlfriend. I won't beat you to a pulp. For now anyways." Daniel finished before he finally opened the door to backseat and stepped aside to let Malia in first, before he followed her. If Stiles had had any thoughts of similarity between the Davis twins, they were gone now. Because while they shared maybe some physical features, Stiles could already tell Daniel was a stark contrast of Eva.

"He's pretty intense." Eva whispered and smiled weakly at Stiles, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Stiles nodded once as he reached out to rub her upper arm gently, "Are you ready?" He asked, and Eva nodded slowly, "Yeah, let's go."

Stiles smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, still wary of the fact that Daniel was in the backseat of his jeep, before he moved to the driver's side. Once they were all settled in, Stiles brought the jeep to life and they were on their way, "We'll meet Scott, Lydia and Kira at the first exit. It won't be too long before we reach the border, and hopefully Deaton's friend will help us from there."

Once Eva made sure Lydia's car and Scott's dirt bike were ahead of them, she looked down at her phone to text Kira. Kira confirmed Deaton had given them the money, and sent her the name and number of Deaton's friend. "So his name is Rob." Eva breathed out, and glanced sideways at Stiles, who nodded once. Eva stared down at her phone again before she leaned back into the seat and breathed in. She peered through the rearview mirror to see Malia staring out the window, remaining fairly, and surprisingly quiet. Daniel on the other hand, had his headphones on, his eyes shut. Eva shook her head slowly and turned her gaze to the dwindling town features.

Her heart felt heavier than usual when they passed the _You're leaving Beacon Hills, We wish you a safe trip!_ sign.


End file.
